E8400 a good choice for now?

[Moro_37]

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade my cpu as m e6400 isnt cutting it anymore and i dont know what im doing with regards to overclocking. I use my computer for gaming mostly (bfbc2,COD, racing games) aside from that just basic web surfing watching videos.
My current set up is:
Windows XP 32 bit
MSI P965 Platinum Mobo v1.0 havent flashed but will f i have to (not sure where to find the pcb #)
E6400 @ 2.13 GHz
2 GB DDR2 Dual Channel
4890 HD 1 GB
X-FI Titanium sound
I found the cpu on newegg for 185 and i dont have the money to do an overhaul on my computer.... so would this be a good processor to get for now?

 

[sportsfanboy]

Maybe now is a good time to learn a little about overclocking. The e8400 is a pretty good chip but it's starting to show it's age as well. For 200 you can pretty much upgrade to an i3 system minus the ram. For 185 that just isn't worth the money. There are tons of guides for overclocking core 2's, it really isn't that hard.

The other option would be use the 185.00 you were going to spend on the e8400 and sell your chip,ram,and motherboard, in favor of an i3 or i5 system upgrade.

 

[jaguarskx]

I would overclock the E6400 in the mobo's BIOS. Click the following link regarding overclocking with your specific mobo:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/MSI-P965-Platinum-Motherboard-Review/407/8

I don't know how much the E6400 can be overclocked to. I'm guessing about 2.4GHz - 2.5GHz maximum. I would do increments of 100MHz at a time and measure the temperature to make sure the CPU doesn't exceed 60C; beyond that I recommend replacing the heatsink. Use Coretemp to measure temperature. 60C is safe, but kinda high for my tastes; I prefer it to be under 50C.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

You can probably use a program like BurnIn to stress your PC to see if your system is unstable.

http://www.passmark.com/products/bit.htm


There's an overclocking sub-forum at THG as well.

 

[Moro_37]

thx very much for the replies.... the idea of learning to overclock has been rolling through my head for some time and i was starting to lean towards it even more when i couldnt run black ops properly for more than a few minutes without my cpu locking up at 100%... im just not a real computer wiz and usually fix my comp problems by trial and error and dont wanna fry all of my stuff by doing something very wrong haha, but wat the heck eh if i cant play new games on my computer meant for gaming wats the point thx for the links and ill probably give this a try some time in the next few days as i have to read up on this to figure out how exactly im going to tackle it.... thx again for the links
Ive been looking at different heatsinks... jw if the coolermaster V line is pretty good to choose from or is it just good advertising (im looking at getting the v6 gt cuz i dont think the v10 is worth it if im going to have to build a new pc in the coming year or 2 because intel will be changing the socket again right?)

 

[sportsfanboy]

You won't fry anything as long as you do a little reading and know the thermal and voltage limits. The cooler master 212 plus is a decent cooler for the money and I believe comes with brackets for socket 1156 and 1366 if you want to up grade later. You can most likely achieve a 10 to 15 percent overclock on stock cooling with decent case air flow, I would try that first and go from there.

 

[Moro_37]

ok thx again... quick question, using coretemp my cpu seems to idle at around 50 C give or take so should I get that new heatsink before attempting this at all?

 

[sportsfanboy]

Do a quick prime95 test on small fft and watch temperatures,thermal saturation usually takes around 6 minutes. You shouldn't have to change the cpu voltage much if at all for a 10 to 15 percent overclock.Max voltage is 1.5 and max recommended tcase temp is around 62c, max core temp is around 95c. So for 24/7 operation you want to keep it at or below 55c on the cpu temp and at or below 65-70c on the cores.

 

[Moro_37]

i ran the prime95 for about 7 minutes, core #0 maxed in temp at 72c and core #1 maxed at 75c, once i stopped the test they both quickly dropped back between 55 - 60c and after a minute or 2 core #0 was 48c and core #1 is 51c

 

[sportsfanboy]

Unfortunately your not going to get much of an overclock with those temperatures. Your about as high as you should get now without raising the voltage or speed. Can you improve case airflow and is the room real warm? The reason I ask is, your idle temps are a bit warm and the same for the load temps at stock settings.

 

[Moro_37]

ok thats kind of what i figured when i saw those temps... didnt want to do anything to it until confirming with you.... i usually leave my windows to my room open regardless of time of year to cool my room down but my room still is one of the warmer in the house... i almost think i need a new case cuz i have an old NZXT Trinity and it just doesn't exactly have many expansion areas for fans and what not.... it looked kool when i got it but i wasnt thinking of the future when i was in high school just the kool looking case lol.... ill shut it down and clean it up as much as i can but i kind of feel like the case just wont let heat dissipate as quickly as id like

 

[sportsfanboy]

Give it a shot, is the exhaust fan/fans blowing warm/hot air out the back at a decent tilt?

 

[sportsfanboy]

I wonder if you can mod that 80mm exhaust to facilitate a 120mm fan, that would certainly help. Looking at that case I would say work on airflow before you overclock/buy any heatsinks.

 

[Moro_37]

well i just finished a several hour process of meticulous tear down and clean of the computer and reworked the wiring with zip ties so that everything is clean and there arent cables in random spots to distort airflow..... I have upgraded the rear exhaust fan to a 120 mm and i also have a 120 mm in the front by the hard drives.... after the clean my system has definitely cooled down.. core #0 now idles between 42-43c and core #1 around 44-45c i am about to run the same test as yesterday to get the load temps for u

 

[sportsfanboy]

nice almost 10c improvement ,let me know how load temps go

 

[Moro_37]

after running the test for 6 minutes core #0 got up to 68c and core #1 to 71c after i ended the test they dropped to 53c and 56c immediately and after a couple minutes they are both around 45c... i think it has to do with the sudden jump in voltage but for some reason my cpu seems to rly jump up extremely fast in temp in the first 30 seconds to a minute

 

[sportsfanboy]

Still a good improvement, you lowered load temps by 7c or so. You might have to buy an aftermarket fan if you want to overclock your system.

 

[Moro_37]

ya ive been looking at the coolermaster v series cpu coolers..... would it be worth considering a new case in your opinion? ive been thinking for a while about the fact that this case desnt really have enough roomin it for extra cooling add ons and even just to fit certain graphics cards is impossible... i've always thought the antec cases looked pretty cool